Turfing mechanism for sewing machines



June 11, 1935. E. E. BOYCE. 2,004,687

TURFING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES Original Filed Jan. 12, 1952 4 sheets-sheet 1 IN VEN TOR E251! INE E. Bore: BY

N ATTQRNEY.

June 11, 1935. E, E, BOYCE 2,004,687

TURFING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES Original Filed Jan. 12, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 ao 20 INVENTOR.

[ESK/NE E BOYCE ATTORNEY.

June-11, 1935. E. E. BOYCE 2,004,687

TURFING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES Original Filed Jan. 12', 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 O a4- 55 h '65 J a I 59 as f '1 40 4'6 W ""IIIII/IIIIIIIIII? 45 INVENTORY Era/rm; 2 Bares ATTORNEY.

June11,193 5. E. E. BOYCE. 2,004,687

TURFING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES Original Filed Jan. 12, 1932 4 sheets-sheet 4 INVENTOR. E/PS/f/NE [Bo YCE' ATTORZEY.

Patented June 11, 1935 UNITED STATES TURFING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES -Erskine E. Boyce, Gastonia, N. (3., assignor to I The Boysell Company, Gastonia, N. 0., a corporation of North Carolina Original application January 12, 1932, Serial No.

586,204. Divided and 1934, Serial No.

3 Claims.

My present invention relates to turflng mechanism for sewing machines, particularly multineedle or gang sewing machines; and this application is a division of my co-pending application, Serial No. 586,204, filed January 12th, 1932.

In my said co-pending application I have disclosed a machine embodying a carrier for a plurality of needle bars, with means to reciprocate the same to cause the needles to collectively pass thru openings in. the bed over which a fabric is run; and on the one side of the bed there are a plurality of turfing members, one for each needle, comprising a part to catch the loops formed in the yarn when the needles penetrate the fabric, and a cooperating part to sever the loops to form tufts on said side of the fabric. Such a machine is particularly, though not exclusively, adapted for use in producing tufted bath mats, and the like.

The subject-matter of the present invention resides in the members for catching and severing the loops, or in other words, the tufting mechanism The principal objects of the present invention are to provide, first, a relatively simple and emcient construction and arrangement of turflng mechanism for gang'sewing machines; second, a construction of turfing mechanism for multineedle or gang machines affording a relatively close arrangement of the turfing mechanism or members whereby the rows of tufts will be compact; and thirdly, to provide for simultaneous or collective operation of a great number of .tufting members whereby mats may be progressively formed with a tufted area extending from side' to side, with or without patterns, as disclosed in my said co-pending' application, of which this is a division.

All of the objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent and will be pointed out during the detailed description of the accompanying drawings, wherein is shown a.preferred embodiment of the invention, and in which Fig. l is a front elevation, partly in section, and with parts broken away showing the frame, needle carrier and turflng mechanism with the actuating parts therefor;

Fig. 2 is a view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and

Figs; 3 and 4 are fragmentary sectional views, similar to Fig. 2, showing the mechanism in other positions;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation on a reduced scale of a sewing machine embodying the invention this application April 19, 721,385

and showing the means for progressively feeding the fabric;

Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the machine shown in Fig. and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary enlarged elevation of the actuating means for the cloth feed.

Referring to Fig. 1, the numeral 5 designates a plurality of needle bars each havinga stem. 6, provided with needle receiving openings or sockets in their lower ends, and screws 1 tapped through the stems to retain the needles 8. The

needle bars are mounted on a carrier I I, the ends l2 of which are slidably mounted on tracks l3, which are secured at opposite ends to uprights It by bolts I 5. The uprights it, may be held in place by angle irons l6, secured to the supporting frame H, by bolts I8.

A shaft 20 is journaled on the frame for rotation by any suitable mechanism, such as here! inafter described, and carries at spaced intervals, preferably adjacent the ends of the frame l1, eccentrics 2 I, which receive the ends 22 of rods 23. the other ends of which are pivotally connected by stub shafts 24 to couplings 25, which may be adjustably connected to the carrier II by bolts 26 extending through slots 2'! in the couplings and through the carrier II.

A plurality of disks 28, each carrying a cam 29 (Fig. 2) are mounted on the shaft 20, and the cams 29 engage arms 30 of members3l, the upper ends of which are secured to a beam 32 as by bolts 33, so that as the shaft 20 is rotated, the cams 23 and associated parts eifect a reciprocating motion of the beam 32, which extends across the machine below the bed over which the fabric moves. At the same time, as explained in detail in my co-pending application, the eccentrics 2| and associated parts effect a reciproeating up-and-down motion of the carrier ll.

The relative motions of the beam 32 and the carrier I l are such that the beam 32 will be moving to the left of the position shown in Fig. 2 as the carrier ll descends, and vice versa.

The beam 32 is in substance an actuator for the turfing mechanism, which includes a plurality of similar loop catching and severing elements about to be described. Each of these elements comprises a finger or loop catching element 34, movable with the beam 32, and being provided with a hooked beak or end 35, and a cutting edge therebehind. Obviously the reciprocating movement of the beam 32 transversely to'the path of the movement of the needle bars and needles causes the hooked ends 35 of the members 34 to pass across the path of movement of the needles so that as hereinafter pointed out in detail. the loops formed on the underside of the fabric will be lcaught on the members 34 by the beaks 35 as the needles ascend. There is one loop-retaining member 34 for each needle and the same are arranged or positioned substantially in alinement with the needles so as to receive the loops .from the needles.

formed by the needles when they pierce the fabric. The loop-receiving members 34 each have extensions 33 (Fig. 3) received in slots in the beam 32 and in which they may be held by an elongated plate or bar 31 secured to the beam by pins 31'.

A cutting blade 33 is pivctally connected at 33 to each of the members 314, each of said blades being provided'with a depending arm or extension 43 adapted for connection with a support by any suitable means affording the necessary movements hereinafter explained. Such connection may be made by providing the lower end of the arm 43 with a notch 4| to receive the flange 42 of a plate 43 held in fixed position by rods 44, which may be connected to a plate or part 45 of the bed support by nuts 43 engaging the inner and outer faces of the said plate or part 45; the rods of course having threaded ends extending through the part 45 to receive'the nuts.

Preferably the plate 45 has a top flange 43, and a similar plate 43 has a corresponding flange 53 in alinement with the flange 43, between which the loop retaining and severing members operate. Cross bars 5|, to which the members 3| are fulcrumed as at 3|, are secured between, the plates 45 and 43, as by bolts and nuts 52. The bed plate 53 over which the fabric is moved by any suitable mechanism, is mounted on blocks or elongated plates 54 on top of the flanges 43 and 53. The bed plate 53 is provided with a plurality of openings 55, each alined with a needle and through which the needles pass after they pierce the fabric.

It should be obvious from the foregoing that each time the eccentrics 2| and rods 23 move the needle carrier l| down. the needles will pierce the fabric and pass through the openings 55, while at the same time the cams 23 actuate members 3| to move the beam 32 and the members or fingers 34 toward the needles so that the said members or fingers 34 pass through the loops formed in the yarn beneath the bed and fabric to retain the loops when the needles are moved up by the carrier During the upward movement of the carrier II, the beam 32 moves in reverse direction to the position shown in Fig. 2, so that the beaks or hooks move back During the movement of the beam 32 toward the needles the blades 33 rock on their pivots 33 sothat their cutting edges move away from the cutting edges of the members 34, and during the reverse movement of the beam 32 away from the needles the blades 33 rock reversely on their pivots 33 so that the cutting edges thereof come into cutting relation with the edges of the members or fingers 34 to sever loops carried by the fingers.

It should be obvious that the relative length of the fingers and the blades can be varied, whereby the loops just caught will not be severed until they have been moved back by the succeeding loops. In other words, the first one or two loops caught will be carried on the members 34 during reciprocating movementthereof without being severed until a third or even fourth loop has been caught. Of course this is optional.

From the foregoing it should be apparent that the cutting action of each of the tufting parts is like that of a scissor. and that the action of the tufting parts is collective. In other words each movement of the beam 32 toward the needles effects catching of as many loops as are formed on the underside of the fabric when the needles penetrate the same, and the reversemovement of the beam effects cutting of all of these loops collectively. By making the blades 33 and fingers 34 of strong steel and relatively thin, it is possible to arrange them close together for the reason hereinabove mentioned.

In my said co-pending'application, of which this is a division, I have shown and described in detail, mechanism for selectively latching and unlatching the needles so as to form untufted areas of predetermined patterns on a succession of mats, but I do not deem it necessary in this application to again refer to all of the aforesaid parts in detail. for obviously the present invention may be practiced on a gang machine, that is, a machine having a plurality of needles simultaneously penetrating the cloth to form the loops, whether the needles be latched or unlatched selectively to form untufted areas or not. The mechanism for selectively latching and unlatching the needles is shown in the drawings in dot and dash lines exactly as shown in full lines in my said co-pending application and as described therein.

In Figs. 5 and 6 I have shown the means for feeding the cloth C from a drum D- across the bed of the machine and over rollers R to the feed roller F. The drum D is provided with a pulley P, in the groove of which is disposed a rope or cable J anchored at one end to a fixed bracket K and attached at its other end to a weight W to provide a frictional restraint on the rotation of the drum D.

Also in Fig. 5 I have shown a motor M connected with a pulley V to drive the belt U, which is also trained around a pulley Yto actuate the shaft 23 above referred to in connection with the turfing mechanism. The eccentric 53 is mounted on shaft 23 and receives the end 51 of rod 58, the other end of'which is disposed against ratchet wheel 53 on shaft 33. A gear wheel 3| is keyed on shaft 33 and meshes with gear wheel 32 on a shaft 33 which rotatably carries the roller 34 preferably roughened to frictionally engage cloth C. A roller or rod 35 on frame 33 is disposed in front of the roller 34 to press the cloth against the face of the roller, and the cloth can be fed thereover from under the roller 34 to expose the tufted face of the cloth for ready inspection at all times during the tufting operation. A pawl or keeper 6'! is pivoted at 33 to the frame to prevent backward movement of the wheel 53. The eccentric 53 is so positioned on the shaft 23 relative to the eccentrics 2| and cams 23 that the rod 53 receives a forward motion to thrust against one of the teeth on wheel 53 after the needle carrier has ascended to remove the needles from the cloth. It should be apparent that the forward thrust of the rod slightly rotates wheel 53, shaft 33, gears 3| and 32 and roller 34, which latter being in frictional engagement with the cloth will move it across the bed of the machine. The ratio of gears 3| and 32 can determine the length of feeding movement imparted to the 010 Obviously the apparatus herein described may be used in connection with mechanism such as shown either in my said co-pending application, Serial No. 586,204 or my co-pending application Serial No. 666,208 to form mats with untufted areas to be later filled in on single sewing machines with tufts of a contrasting nature or color. The advantage of the present invention being that the mats may be formed in a succession on a strip of fabric of relatively great length, and each time the needles descend they form the loops simultaneously from one side of the fabric to the other, which loops are also collectively severed to form the tufts across one dimension of the mat, and each time the needles ascend the feed mechanism is actuated to move the fabric a predetermined distance to receive another line of tufts.

I claim:

1. In a multiple needle sewing machine for tufting fabrics, a carrier for a plurality of needlebars, means latching the needlebars to the carrier for movement therewith, a plurality of loopreceiving members one for each needle and each including a finger movable back and forth in a path intersecting the path in which the needlebar reciprocates, said finger having a cutting edge, a blade pivotally connected to each of said members and having a cutting edge co-operating with the cutting edge of said finger, said pivoted cutting blade having a depending portion, a support on which the depending portions are fulcrumed, and means to collectively move said fingers to cause all of said cutting blades to be bers on said side of the fabric to catch the loops formed by the needles, a mounting for said members, means to move said mounting and members toward the needles when they pierce the fabric and away from the needles when they ascend, a plurality of cutting blades one pivotally connected to each of said members and collectively operable by movements of said mounting to collectively sever the loops on said members.

3. Turfing mechanism for gang or multiple needle sewing machines comprising an elongated mounting, means toreciprocate said mounting, a plurality of loop receiving fingers carried by said mounting in alinement with the needles, a plurality of cutting blades .each pivotally supported adjacent one end, a. support pivotally connected to the cutting blades adjacent their other ends, said first pivotal connection being moveable with and by the mounting and said second pivotal connection being fixed to collectively move the cutting edges of the blades with respect to the fingers during reciprocation of the mounting.

ERSKINE E. BOYCE. 

